


Alone

by scroobles



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Morning Cuddles, brief mention of blupjeans being kickass reapers, kravitz's mom is a good boss, taako is lonely and that's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 11:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17043014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scroobles/pseuds/scroobles
Summary: “I’m not going anywhere.” The reaper said quietly, and he knew it wasn’t a lot, he knew it wasn’tenough, but Taako took it as something and held onto it, tight.Or, Taako feels alone, and to be honest, it's getting kind of old.





	Alone

**Author's Note:**

> i never realised how much italics I used in my writing until I had to html the shit out of this thing. that really sets the tone for the rest of this piece, i think.

_“and in the end_  
_all i learned_  
_was how to be strong_  
_alone”_

  
Taako had been alone.

And for a while, he had believed that that was how it was going to be, for the rest of his long lifespan. But then he’d met Magnus, Merle, Lucretia and her Bureau, and suddenly he wasn’t _alone_ anymore. 

The adventures he, Magnus and Merle went on in order to regain the relics that they (unknowingly) had created, found so many more people come hurtling in (and out) of his life, as well. 

Hurley, Sloane, Angus, NO-3113, Ren, _Kravitz._

And then, suddenly, The Day of Story and Song. The day the apocalypse began and concluded, and suddenly he had his _sister_ , his _family_ back, and Taako was not alone. Not anymore. 

And he healed. 

But it is one thing to heal, and another to forget, and if there is one thing Taako (From TV!) is good at, it’s not forgetting. Or forgiving. Ironic, really, considering. 

Kravitz had become his rock.

It had taken a while. A _lot_ of dates, strategic hand-squeezing, late-night conversations (since neither of them _technically_ had to sleep), and just communication in general. And it was _nice_ , so, so nice, after everything. After everything, just being able to collapse into Kravitz, cold as he may be, and zone out after a particularly trying day was _nice_. But his stomach never quite stopped twisting itself into knots whenever he really let himself think.

Because try as he might, Taako just couldn’t convince himself that any of this was permanent.

People _left_ , that was their whole _shtick._ In the time between the end of the century spent travelling on the Starblaster, and regaining his family not a year or two earlier, Taako had had to come to terms with the fact that not every relationship he made had to be temporary. These people had stuck with him for a century, they probably weren’t going anywhere - but Kravitz? Kravitz hadn’t. And that scared the _shit_ out of him.

Kravitz was staying the night. Taako’s residence was no longer on the familiar moon base of the Bureau, but a beautiful house that he’d bought shortly after the whole saving-the-world gig wrapped up. It was nice, not having to share quarters with Magnus and Merle (who were admittedly not the subtlest roommates, but then again, neither was he), but it was also a big house. A big house that, because his family were so busy, he was often alone in.

Alone again.

But at that moment, Taako didn’t _feel_ very alone. No, not with Kravitz watching him with lidded eyes from his position on the burgundy couch, a glass of wine in hand, as Taako bustled his way around his extravagant kitchen. Sparks flew from his fingers, water turning into milk, tea into peppermint, salt into cocoa powder, and sugar cubes into marshmallows, as the willowy elf made hot chocolates in record timing. His stomach twisted less and less every time. 

“Here we are, Bone Daddy! Two peppermint hot chocolates, compliments of the chef.” Taako announced, cradling one mug to his chest as the other floated over to Kravitz, waiting for the dark man to pluck it from the air. He did, with minimal grumbling in response to Taako’s nickname for him (he’d heard worse), and sent the still-standing elf a smitten grin.

“The chef? Could you give me a name, darling, I’d love to give my compliments personally.” Kravitz hummed innocently, raising one dark eyebrow. Taako scoffed, placing his mug down on the coffee table in front of the couch, and plopped down onto his boyfriend’s lap.

“No need, babe. I’ll pass them along.” The elf winked, drawing Kravitz in for a long kiss, dodging the mug that the reaper was still holding in one hand. It was tender, and tasted of cocoa and peppermint, and went no further than that. It was late, and they were both tired, and hot diggity _shit_ was he good at making hot chocolates. Taako drew away, humming contentedly as his mug floated towards him leisurely, and he sipped from it.

“Comfortable?” Kravitz asked quietly, amusement lacing his tone. Taako hadn’t slipped off of his lap like he normally would, and whilst the reaper wasn’t exactly _complaining_ , he did wonder if there was a reason.

“Yep.” Taako grinned, popping the ‘p’ and leaning in with newly-chocolatey lips to kiss Kravitz again. The reaper was more than happy to oblige, and the two spent the rest of their evening there, on Taako’s burgundy couch, exchanging kisses and quiet conversations until they ran out of hot chocolate.

If Taako kept refilling them with a strategic cantrip here and there, well, neither of them said anything.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
The two had piled into Taako’s ostentatious bedroom, movements ungraceful and sloppy as a result of both the wine they had drunk earlier, and the drowsiness the hot chocolate had resulted in as it settled in their systems, warming them both from the inside out. 

Taako’s bed was _huge,_ so big it seemed to consume all that touched it, what with the killer combination of the pliancy of the mattress, the softness of the comforter and blankets, and the sheer number of pillows mounded up onto it. They both tumbled back onto it after stripping down to what could be deemed appropriate for sleeping in, and taking turns blearily brushing their teeth (and, if you’re Taako, taking out the pound of jewellery you’ve got on your person at all times). It was all _sickeningly_ domestic, especially for two beings who don’t even need to sleep. 

Taako revelled in it. 

He rubbed his face, turning on his side so he could look at Kravitz’s face. He was only a little surprised to see the reaper looking back at him, a heart-heavingly fond expression seemingly permanently implanted into his features. Taako wrinkled his nose, certain that there was an equally-grossly-sappy expression on his face, and poked the space in between Kravitz’s eyebrows with disdain. Before the reaper could question his boyfriend’s half-asleep antics, the elf tucked himself under Kravitz’s chin, and that was that. Within minutes the two ended up intertwined, and Taako pressed a kiss to Kravitz’s exposed collarbone before falling into the deepest sleep he’d had in ages.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Kravitz awoke to light spilling into the bedroom, highlighting the dust drifting through its beams and making it sparkle. Taako was still beside him, warm and breathing slowly, blonde hair fanned out like a halo across the pillow and, _dear Raven Queen_ , he looked perfectly imperfect and if Kravitz wasn’t already dead, he could die happy with that image imprinted in his brain. 

He probably shouldn’t have addressed his Queen, however, even in his mind, because not ten seconds later the familiar voice of Her consumed his thoughts.

**_Kravitz_** , She said, Her voice to most seeming grating and cold, but to him, laced with fondness and mild exasperation. 

“My Queen,” The reaper began, mind flashing back in a rather traumatic fashion to images of his desk, overflowing with work, and the types of excuses he’d have to come up with to get out of this one. 

**_I don’t mean to pry, but it seems like you didn’t return back to the Astral Plane after your, ahem, visit yesterday._** She continued, very obviously amused at the way Kravitz seemed to squirm. This was by no means the first time Kravitz had stayed with Taako, not even the first time he’d stayed with him for an extended period of time, but he could tell his Queen was bored. And unfortunately, when the Raven Queen was bored, She had the tendency to mess with Her favourite reaper, and was _very_ good at making him squirm. 

Kravitz closed his mind from Her for a moment, collecting his thoughts, before he gently peeled away the blankets and Taako’s arm from their positions on his torso, placing them back down on the mattress and shifting himself away. He may as well return to his work now; the quicker he got it done, the quicker he could get back to Taako and propose the adoption of a certain skeleton-ghost kitten he’d seen walking around the Stockade a couple days ago. 

Just as he was about to lift himself off the bed, silent and graceful (well, theoretically), Taako sat up. Kravitz winced, assuming that he’d awakened the elf, and turned to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek before he ripped a hole in reality and left.

Taako was crying. 

Taako _never_ cried. At least, not like this. There was no bashful covering of the face, no walls thrust up the moment his eyes started to well up, no slammed doors or wasted spell slots. 

He was just sitting on the bed in the morning sunlight, tears streaming down his cheeks, still pale from sleep.

Kravitz was at a loss.

He reached out, to do, to say something, but Taako beat him to it.

“Please don’t leave me alone. I-I don’t want to wake up alone anymore.”

His voice sounded so broken, so cracked and raw that Kravitz felt tears begin to build up in his eyes as well, his vision growing cloudy. Blinking them away, he shifted back onto the bed, closer to Taako. 

“Taako, darling, can I touch you?” The reaper asked softly, the elf nodding before he’d even finished talking, and Kravitz gently took his hand, placing it in his lap and beginning to stroke it methodically. Taako slumped, looking positively wrecked, and his grip in Kravitz’s hand tightened. 

“Do you want to, um, talk about it?”

“No.” Taako growled immediately, before coughing slightly and looking away.

“Um, yeah. Sorry about this, babe. Sucks to be doing this first thing in the morning, huh?” 

Kravitz didn’t reply, continuing instead to radiate concern and affection, which was almost enough for Taako to turn back on the ol’ waterworks. But he didn’t. He hadn’t taken off all of last night’s mascara and he was at least 69% sure that most of it was tracking down his cheeks by now. 

“I don’t.. want to talk about it. Not a lot. It’s just- almost always, you’re gone before I wake up. And I _get_ it, Krav, you’re basically Death incarnate and you’ve got that whole soul-reaping shit going on, on top of a shitload of paperwork, like, constantly-” And Taako’s ranting now, withdrawing his hand from Kravitz’s grasp to twist them in his nightshirt, wringing his hands as he vomited words like Zone of Truth was encasing the bedroom. 

“I don’t- I don’t like waking up alone.” Taako said, finally, shakily, after a whole minute of build up. And Kravitz shifted close, close enough to pull Taako into him and wrap him up, close enough for the elf to bury his face into the reaper’s shoulder and leave a wet spot there that both of them wordlessly agreed not to mention. 

“I know I’m not alone anymore, Krav, but I’m so fucking _scared_ all the time. That one day I’m just going to wake up and that’s it, I’m alone again. It happened once before, and I’m terrified that it’s going to happen again.” Taako spat out the words like they were poison, muffled but still clear against Kravitz’s comfy wool sweater that his face was pressed into. The reaper rubbed his boyfriend’s back as he shook, manoeuvring them so he was lying back against the headboard, shifting his hands upwards to drift through the elf’s long hair, tumbling in knots around his shoulders. 

“I’m not going anywhere.” The reaper said quietly, and he knew it wasn’t a lot, he knew it wasn’t _enough_ , but Taako took it as something and held onto it, tight. 

“I know.” Taako murmured, and he was crying again, but Kravitz said nothing.

“None of us are going _anywhere_ , Taako, and if I have to wake up next to you for the next century for you to believe it then I will.” 

Taako cried. 

**_Kravitz,_** the Raven Queen’s voice echoed in his mind again, and just as he began to steel himself up to tell Her why he couldn’t return today, he realised that there were a couple other voices mingling in the background around Her’s; Lup and Barry. 

**_We’ve got this!_** He managed to pick up from their muffled voices, overshadowed by his Queen’s booming one, and he was momentarily confused. 

**_I believe now would be a good time for you to take your first leave of absence, hmm?_ **

Kravitz smiled as Taako drifted off again, his hand tangled in his boyfriend’s hair as his chest rose up and down, in time with the thrumming of the reaper’s fledgling heart.

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this at 1 am as a shitty vent fic and my wonderful wonderful friends bri and saskia read it through for me blessss  
> no proper editing though because we die like men. also projecting onto TAZ characters has become a rather alarming past time for me, whoops. 
> 
> i haven't written in literal months, so please be gentle with me i'm _fragile_. i also have no idea how ao3 works so any guidance would be lovely!
> 
> ~~i love my trash men a lot.~~


End file.
